Takin' a Week
by Fat Puppy
Summary: The boys take a break after a difficult month.


**Takin' a Week**

_**SUMMARY: The boys take a break after a difficult month.**_

* * *

"We're takin' a week, Sammy. Here."

Dean placed a cup of his brother's favorite flavored tea in front of him. Some type of cinnamon sweet spicy concoction, he wasn't really sure, but Sam loved the stuff and gravitated to it when he was toiling.

It had been a long month. September. Seemed to go on forever and filled with one gut shot after another.

Sam cupped the warm mug and stole a tired glance at his big brother.

"Takin' a week?"

"Yup," Dean said, sitting down into the Lazy Boy recliner separated by inches from Sam's own chair. The room around them not yet finished, but quickly becoming their go-to place for relaxing. That Sam had come here rather than someplace more secluded was a sign for Dean that his little brother needed the company.

"September really did suck. Not one bit of good anything came out it. Well, other than we didn't die, despite your efforts to the contrary. We've earned a break. And you need some time. And... if you tell me you are good or fine, I will punch you dead in the face."

"Dean..."

"No, don't Dean me either. It's Wednesday. We are now off duty until exactly one week from today. I've made an executive decision. So, we can either hang out here, watch movies and get drunk, or we can drive. Your choice."

"Drive." Sam said without hesitation.

Dean wasn't surprised by the answer. They lived at the bunker of course, it had been their home now for these last years, but it had never really taken away their need to be on the road.

"You wanna pick a destination or just drive? I mean, I know how you love visiting those geeky things like the World's Biggest Spork or some weirdo giant bronze garden gnome."

"What?"

"You and your weird road stuff. We can go find one of those things that gets your nerdy side all excited."

"World's Biggest Spork?"

"Yeah, you know, that thing that's half spoon and half fork. Plastic. You used it school all the..."

"I know what a spork is, Dean. I don't think there's a memorial to it."

"Well, then, Google it and we'll find out. There's gotta be a giant nerdy something out there that you've not seen yet. Drink your tea."

Sam played on his phone for a minute. "North Dakota. Salem Sue."

"Salem, say who?"

"The World's Largest Holstein Cow."

"A cow?"

"38 feet high. 50 feet long. All fiberglass."

"You wanna go see a giant cow statue in North Dakota?"

"Sure."

"Sam."

"Dude, this was your idea."

"No, the giant spork was my idea. Not the giant cow. In North Dakota. North Dakota, Sam! What the hell is there to do in North Dakota? About as much as there is to do in South Dakota."

"Good," Sam stated. "North Dakota it is."

"No, Sam, wait. Come on. Seriously, a giant plastic cow? We are so much better than this."

"Fiberglass. Not plastic."

"So, not the point, Sam. So, not the point."

"Okay, then you name the place."

"No, no. If you wanna go see a giant plastic cow in boring-ass North Dakota, then that's what we'll do."

"Fine."

"Fine."

Dean grabbed the Impala keys from the table. "Ten minutes or I leave without you."

"You're not leaving without me, Dean. And can I finish my tea at least?" Sam hugged the warm mug to his hands again.

About to get up and leave the room, Dean stopped to stare at his brother. "Seriously, Sam. Why the cow? Why North Dakota of all places?"

"It's beautiful."

"The cow?"

"The state. The cow, probably not, but that doesn't matter. It's the trip that matters."

Dean got it then. If they were gonna drive, they were gonna do it right. Like they used to when it was just the two of them against the world. Driving across the country, sitting under the stars, eating crappy food, sleeping in lousy hotel rooms or an occasional rest in the Impala. North Dakota was a haul. It wasn't just a quick three hour jaunt to a neighboring state.

"You're right, Sammy. It is the trip. Hey, you know we can make a stop on the way."

Sam smiled over his tea, floating on the exact same wavelength as his older brother. "We can."

"Would be good to see the old place. We spent a lot of good and not so good times in the junk yard. And Bobby... Bobby would want us to check in from time to time, make sure the old place was still there."

"Yeah, he would. Okay, so ten minutes." Sam finished his tea and walked to the kitchen, Dean in tow. "You're following me."

"I am."

"Why?"

"Hell if I know."

"Dean."

"Sam."

"The car. Ten minutes. Remember?"

Clapping his hands, "Yes, right. Sorry. Got lost in thought there."

"Don't hurt yourself."

Dean made a face. "Eh heh heh. Funny, Sam. Funny." He didn't move from the kitchen though.

"Dean!"

"What?"

"Stop being weird."

"Not being weird, just... I don't know... happy?"

"Good. Be happy in your room, packing. You're the one who said ten minutes." Sam's mug was placed on the drying rack as he watched his brother in confusion.

"I did say ten minutes, didn't I? Okay, good talk, Sammy."

"Dude, you are really being weird. What's going on with you?"

"Dunno. The thought of seeing the old junk yard again maybe?"

"You said you were happy."

"I am."

"Dean."

"Maybe it's the cow thing, Sam."

"No, that's not it... wait." Finally it registered on the younger sibling. "I know. Dean. I'm fine. Got the complete bill of health from the doc. Infection all cleared, Wounds all healed."

"Yeah, I know that already, Sam."

"Then stop mothering me."

"Not mothering... oh hell. I am. Damn it. The tea. Following you around. Wanting to road trip. September really did suck in so many ways."

"It did, but its over. And I'm fine. So, please go pack."

Dean finally did leave the room as they each spread out to toss supplies and clothes together. The older brother unconsciously latching onto the younger after a near-death ride on the Werewolf train at the beginning of the month. After that, September went from bad to worse and beyond. It lead Dean to protective mode even after the worst of it all was better. Sam was right though. He was fine. And they had a road trip to ride.

A trip to Bobby's old junk yard. A journey of memories and strife and heartbreak and trauma.

And then a trip to see a giant plastic cow.

"It's fiberglass, Dean."

Sam slammed the car door shut after throwing his bag in the back seat.

"Who the hell cares, Sam? No one. Not even the damn plastic cow."

"Fiberglass. Created by the Phoenicians and Egyptians. And then in 1880, Herman Hammesfahr..."

"Dude! I don't give a rat's ass about Herman Hammertoe."

"Hammersfahr."

"Hamm... never mind. Here." One hand on the steering wheel, one on the radio knob, Dean blasted the volume as Led Zeppelin rocked the speakers.

Sam smiled. Dean smiled. And they were off. On the road. Takin' a week. Where junk yards and plastic cows awaited.

* * *

The end.


End file.
